POLAND Even though the Mercure hotel brand is now more than forty years old, its owners are making sure that it is not showing its age. The renovation of two hotels under the brand in the TriCity – Mercure Gdynia Centrum (former Orbis Gdynia) and Mercure Gdańsk Posejdon (the former Orbis Posejdon Gdańsk) – has recently been completed. The aim is for the hotels to emulate the quality of the chain’s model hotel in the area – Mercure Gdańsk Old Town.
After the facelift
The Orbis group, which is the owner and exclusive licence holder of the brand in Central and Eastern Europe based on an agreement signed with Accor, has been investing in the rebranding of its facilities for some time. One of its main activities in this field is the renovation of older hotels and standardising them under one of its brands. Posejdon was built in 1976 on ul. Kapliczna in Gdańsk, close to the shoreline. “We have renovated the rooms, the corridors, the lobby, the conference rooms, the breakfast section and the restaurant. After the modernisation, which has taken three months (February–May 2015) the hotel is now categorised as a three-star facility,” explains Stanisław Wilgocki, the director of the hotel. Mercure Posejdon offers 151 rooms, a fitness and wellness centre including a covered swimming-pool with illuminations, a steam sauna, a Finnish sauna and a gym as well as cosmetics and massage services laid on by external companies. Apart from all this, business clients have access to six fully-equipped conference halls.
The legendary former Orbis Gdynia is now somewhat difficult to recognise. It was built in 1983 and since its early days has provided accommodation for guests of the Film Festival in Gdynia: actors, film directors and producers. This is why film and additional sailing motifs now dominate the entire building. Its communal areas and rooms feature paintings of boats and sails, while the names of the conference rooms are derived from the different types of yacht. The building offers 294 rooms in a range of standards: from suites, to family rooms and 14 large rooms with a combined area of 1,400 sqm. The four-star hotel also includes ‘Privilège Rooms’, which have larger areas and slightly better furnishing. The four-star Mercure Gdańsk Old Town hotel is regarded by the group as a showpiece Mercure hotel. It comprises 281 rooms: six suites (with a view onto the shipyard and the Old Town), 182 single and double rooms, 93 twin rooms and 24 Privilège Rooms. The hotel also includes a conference section with nine air-conditioned rooms.
Wine and bread in Winestone
What the Mercure hotels certainly have in common is that they each have a new type of restaurant under the name of Winestone. The concept, which was co-developed by Paweł Anders, the head of the Winestone project, has just received the European Medal – a prize awarded by the Business Centre Club with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the honorary patronage of the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels. The Winestone concept is centred around two main elements. Firstly, ‘the wine’: the wine selection is based on a wine-taster’s knowledge and experience. And secondly, ‘the stone’: dishes are served on ‘les planches‘ – stone boards. Anything that can be bought in Winestone can be taken away. There is also a Wineshop, to complement what is on the offer in the restaurant. An online shop is also planned.
Three stars and more
The Mercure brand appeared on the market in 1973 and two years later was acquired by the Accor group. Hotels with the Mercure logo are midscale and are of a three- or four-star standard. They usually have good locations in city centres, on the coast or at the foot of mountains. Over a period of less than 20 years Accor has expanded the brand to 200 hotels in 15 European countries. In Poland the first Mercure was opened in 1993 in Warsaw – Mercure Warszawa Fryderyk Chopin. Currently there are 23 Mercure hotels in Poland and 707 in 53 countries globally.
